Bus bomb
by HR always live on
Summary: Short Harry and Ruth fan fiction. My first attempt so please don't be too mean!


Ruth got out of bed straight away as her alarm buzzed. It was six a.m. She wanted to get on the grid early today. She had a lot of research she wanted to start before everyone else got in to work. She liked being on the grid by herself. It gave her time to think without Tariq clicking away and discussing his latest toys or Beth continually refilling her coffee mug.

She hurriedly got dressed and barely glanced in the mirror as she picked up her keys. At the door she jumped as she felt something on her legs.

"Oh, Fidget," she said having temporarily forgotten her cat. She retraced her steps to the kitchen and fed her cat his breakfast. Ruth gave him a last stroke as she left her flat

Fifteen minutes later Ruth was sitting on the bus, heading into the city centre. She was flicking through her copy of Jane Eyre when she sighed and put it back in her bag. She would much rather watch the people around her as she travelled to Thames House. She closed her eyes briefly as the London streets flew past her window. She was remembering a night on a bus like this years ago. When Harry had been sitting behind her.

Harry was in his car driving to work. He hadn't managed to avoid rush hour traffic so wasn't expecting to get to Thames house for a long time yet. His mobile phone rang. As he was stuck in non moving traffic he answered it.

"Yes?"

"Harry, its Beth," came her worried voice over the phone.

"Yes, I know I'm late," Harry started but Beth cut him off.

"Eight bombs have gone off all over the city!" Beth said panicked. "They're all on buses. Casualties are looking to be very high."

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Harry said firmly hanging up the phone. As he crawled forward in traffic a horrifying thought occurred to him. Ruth always took the bus to work. What if… No. He wouldn't even entertain the thought. But he couldn't stop thinking it. He picked his mobile phone up and called Ruth. It went straight through to her answer phone. He continued to dial it every few minutes. He never got an answer.

"Come on Ruth," he said under his breath. "Pick up the damn phone." Suddenly the traffic eased enough for him to drive forward. He threw the phone on the empty passenger seat and put his foot on the accelerator. He had to get to Thames House. Now.

Ruth sat typing away on her computer as both Beth and Dimitri came in looking flustered.

"Morning," Ruth said normally.

"You haven't heard have you?" Dimitri said in a false calm voice.

"What?"

"Eight bombs have gone off in the city," Beth replied.

"Oh no," Ruth murmured. She closed the windows she had open immediately. This was going to be a long day.

"Has anyone called Harry?" Ruth asked, pretending to be uninterested in the answer.

"Yeah, he's on his way in," Beth said, moving to sit behind her desk and switch her computer on. Tariq walked through the pods.

"I heard," he said briefly taking his normal seat and typing straight away. "This is going to be a day from hell." Everyone else nodded. "Where's Harry?"

"On route," Ruth replied quickly. "When did the bombs go off?"

"Simultaneously on buses across London," Dimitri replied. "All within a few seconds of each other."

"Good morning England," Ruth said under her breath. At that moment Harry came through the pods looking very agitated.

"Right, meeting room everyone," Harry said quickly. He held Ruth's gaze for a second before she started gathering her files.

"Is it too much to ask for you to answer your phone Ruth?" Harry said with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry?" Ruth asked confused.

"I've been ringing you all morning. I've been worried sick." Ruth fished in her handbag and found her mobile.

"Oh, its on silent," Ruth said simply. "I didn't hear it ring. Why were you so desperate to get hold of me?"

"I thought…" Harry tailed off. "It doesn't matter." He moved to walk away but Ruth called back after him.

"Twenty one missed calls from you," Ruth said after looking at her mobile display. "I think it does matter. What is it?" she added in a gentle voice.

"The bombs?" Harry said after a moment. "They were all on buses. I know you get the bus here and I thought… When you didn't answer your phone I thought…" Harry tailed off, unable to voice the horrors that had been going through his mind.

"You thought I had been on one of the targeted buses didn't you?" Ruth said quietly.

"Yes," Harry said quietly. "I did think that." There was an uncomfortable pause as they locked eyes and couldn't look away from each other. "Next time, pick up your phone, Ruth." And the moment broke. Ruth gathered her things and followed Harry into the meeting room.

As they had been having their conversation Tariq had been watching them through the window of the meeting room. What was wrong with those two? It was obvious what was between them even if you were blind. He sat down as Harry and Ruth came into the meeting room.

"Right," Harry said, and they began discussing the latest disaster on British soil.

The end of the day came and Ruth closed her eyes briefly. It had been one of the longest days she had ever spent in this building and that was saying something. She said goodbye as Tariq, Dimitri and Beth left the grid. That left Harry in his office. Ruth glanced at him and saw that he was, as usual, drinking whiskey. She smiled at her desk. After all, what else would he be doing?

"Still here are you?" Harry asked five minutes later coming out of his office.

"I guess so," Ruth said. "Long, bad day."

"Yes," Harry said sadly. The death count had been much higher than one they had had in a while. 132. "Can I give you a lift home?"

Ruth paused before answering. "Yes," she said firmly. "Thanks." They both left the grid in an uneasy silence.

As they were going through the London streets it started raining. Ruth smiled at the change in the weather.

"What's so good about the rain?" Harry asked.

"It reminds me that I'm back in England," Ruth said. "It makes me happy that I'm home." She paused for a minute before going on. "It never rained in Cyprus. Not like it does here."

"Do you miss it?" Harry asked, not knowing if he wanted to hear the answer.

"Yes and no," Ruth said slowly. "I miss how easy everything was. For once I didn't have to worry about which terrorists were trying to blow us up this week. I didn't have to consider the implications of everything I did. I wasn't dealing with the worst examples of mankind everyday. It was easy."

"I'm hoping there's a but in there," Harry said when she paused.

"It wasn't home," Ruth said. "I missed London everyday." Ruth looked at her hands because she didn't want to say what she had missed the most. Or rather who she missed the most.

"Ruth," Harry started. She looked at him and saw all the missed chances they had had over the years. Everything that had slipped by them. At that moment the car came to a stop outside of Ruth's home. Ruth looked out of the window and moved to get up when Harry grabbed hold of her hand quickly.

"Ruth," he repeated, not letting go of her hand. She looked into his dark brown eyes for a moment. She didn't pull her hand back. Ruth felt herself freeze as Harry moved closer to her. All of a sudden he kissed her. Ruth couldn't believe this was happening. After a long moment she pulled away from him.

"I should go," Ruth said quietly.

"Ruth…"

"Do you want to come in?" Ruth asked hesitantly. Harry looked at her and then nodded.

"Yes, I'd like that."

Ruth kept her eyes tightly shut when she woke up. It had been such a good dream that she wanted to hold onto it for a few more moments. After the busy day she'd had yesterday she wasn't really surprised by her overactive imagination.

She heard a phone ringing loudly, cutting through her very pleasant thoughts. Before she could move someone had answered it first.

"Harry Pearce," a hoarse voice said as he answered the phone. Ruth sat up making sure she was truly awake as Harry continued his conversation. "Yep. Okay. Thanks." He put the phone down and then looked at Ruth.

"Sorry that woke you but we have to go," Harry said slowly.

"It wasn't a dream then," Ruth said, letting a slow happy smile appear on her face. Harry gently pushed her hair off of her face and held her cheek lightly for a few seconds.

"No," Harry replied. "We really have to go."

"What disaster is it this time?"

Tariq was clicking away on his computer while Beth and Dimitri had a quiet conversation. Tariq was trying to make a completely undetectable tracking device but his latest invention had failed his previous test. He always had been a perfectionist. He looked up as he heard the pods whirring. Harry and Ruth had arrived. They were talking quietly between themselves and didn't even glance around the grid to see who else was there. The way Ruth was looking at Harry was different. Something had changed. Tariq knew it just from watching them. They walked straight across the grid into his office. Tariq glanced at Beth who raised her eyebrows suggestively. Tariq laughed and continued typing.


End file.
